LONDON (Reuters) – The maker of Irn-Bru, the iconic orange Scottish soft drink, said on Tuesday that it had increased its prices due to soaring inflation in Britain.
Consumer prices are rising at the fastest rate in almost 30 years, stoked by global supply chain problems and increases in the price of raw materials, forcing companies to increasingly pass higher costs on to customers.
Irn-Bru is regarded by many as a national symbol of Scotland and is known for its surreal and sometimes provocative advertising campaigns. Described as Scotland’s other national drink, with whisky being the first, it secured another fan last year when U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tried it at the COP26 climate summit in Scotland.
“We have initiated several cost control actions to reduce the impact of these rising costs and have adjusted our pricing with customers where appropriate,” owner A.G. Barr said in a statement.
The company, which also makes the Rubicon and Sun Exotic brands of fruit drinks, said it would seek opportunities to offset the impact of inflation on its business.
Its shares rose 2.7% on Tuesday as it raised its revenue outlook, outperforming the wider FTSE 350 index.
Cost pressures for British consumers look likely to intensify over the next few months, although some business surveys show tentative signs that input cost pressures for companies may have peaked.
British grocery inflation rose to 3.8% in the four weeks to Jan. 23, with the prices of savoury snacks, crisps and beef rising the most, market researcher Kantar said on Tuesday, underlining the growing cost-of-living squeeze facing many households.
The headline gauge of annual consumer price inflation hit 5.4% in December and the Bank of England thinks it will peak at around 6% in April.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Andy Bruce; additional reporting by Muvija M, editing by Michael Holden and Kate Holton)
